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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
An Account of Experiments to Determine the Figure of the Earth by Means of the Pendulum Vibrating Seconds in Different Latitudes: As Well as on Vario

An Account of Experiments to Determine the Figure of the Earth by Means of the Pendulum Vibrating Seconds in Different Latitudes: As Well as on Vario

Sabine, Edward

Paperback

Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences

Sports GeneralAstronomy & SpaceGeneral World History

ISBN10: 1108062075
ISBN13: 9781108062077
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: Feb 6 2014
Pages: 538
Weight: 2.03
Height: 1.09 Width: 7.00 Depth: 10.00
Language: English
As early as the seventeenth century, scientists realised that a pendulum swings more slowly at the equator than it would at the North Pole. Newton predicted that gravity increased with latitude, and that the Earth could not be perfectly spherical. Although various experiments were undertaken to determine the exact degree of this ellipticity, none proved successful until physicist Edward Sabine (1788-1883) embarked on a series of expeditions across the world. Based on pendulum measurements from a wide range of latitudes, from Jamaica to Spitsbergen, his results were very different to mathematical predictions, and far more accurate; Charles Babbage would even complain that they were too good to be true. In this account, which first appeared in 1825, Sabine explains his methodology and presents his findings. His book opens a fascinating window into nineteenth-century geodesy for students in the history of science.

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